Pohled Czech Republic (28 April 2017) It was enough to have arachnologists around the globe in a state of high tension when a giant pink Spider was seen on the mountain pastures in the canton of Obwalden in Switzerland.

However, it was not some previously undiscovered species, but a Spider 2 remote-controlled mower that was being used by a local contractor to maintain the grassed slopes on local farms in the Swiss alps.

His partner’s favourite colour is pink and, where possible, all his farm contracting equipment is painted pink, the plastic coverings for his silage bales are pink, the bells around the cows’ necks are pink and he wears pink shorts during the summer months.

Lubor Hladik, international sales manager at Dvorak, the manufacturers of Spider machines explained,

“We took an enquiry from our Swiss distributor for a Spider 2, but unusually they wanted it painted bright pink; we later discovered that it was the customer’s partner who is obsessed with the colour and it needed to match other equipment on the farm. As the customer is always right, we found the correct colour pigment and fulfilled their request. We’ve produced Spiders in black livery previously, for the Daytona Speedway track in the USA, but never in pink. That was a first!”

About Dvorak

The Dvorak – svahove sekacky Ltd. was founded on July 1, 2004 by Lubomír Dvořák. The patent protected radio controlled Spider slope mower is the principal product of the company. The revolutionary design of the Spider product range created a new sector into the groundscare market when introduced in 2004. During the past 13 years the product portfolio has expanded and a sales network now covers over 40 countries around the world.

Spider mowers can be used in multiple applications on golf courses; local authority open spaces; national, regional and local parks; water and river management; roads, rail and highways; waste management sites, airports and military installations; power generation utilities; vineyards and orchards; national heritage sites; skiing and sport resorts; motor sport arenas and solar farms.

Rigby Taylor Ltd and Ground Water Dynamics (GWD) offer sports turf surfaces a revolutionary new vertical drainage system.
Already, GWD has secured some blue-chip clients including:

• Ascot Racecourse
• Silverstone Race Circuit
• Fulham Football Club
• Edgbaston Cricket Ground
• East Midlands Airport

GWD is suitable for all soil types and provides the opportunity to manage surface water run-off, nuisance groundwater and localised flooding. Most importantly, rainfall can be dealt with at “source” with no requirement to link up with storm-drains or sewers – a feature which is becoming more prominent as planning authorities struggle with outdated public assets.

Features:
* Requires no external energy source,
* Creates very little disruption during installation
* Is environmentally sustainable.

Why GWD?
Firstly, this system is totally different from anything else currently being offered to the industry.

The system is installed by drilling bore-holes up to 12 metres deep with minimal disruption and does not require trenches or major earth works. “An Energy-Passive Ground-Water Recharge Pump (EGRP) system enables rain water to be
captured ‘at source’ instead of simply moving the problem to another area explains Joe O’Meara, Director of Groundworks Dynamics, “ or worse still to a sewerage plant where clean water is processed as effluent at significant cost,” Each bore-hole is no more than 90mm in diameter and, after the insertion of the EGRP device, the bore-hole is top dressed with a root zone mix.

Most of the installations to date have involved installing in areas on a retrofit basis, where other drainage solutions have failed. However, GWD is now getting involved in the project design
stage as, following a test drilling day where we measure infiltration rates, we areable to produce calculations showing how much rain water can be dealt with, and how to design an EGRP system which is bespoke to the clients drainage requirements.

Certain soil types, comprised of horizontal layers of clay & silt, can offer limited drainage capacity resulting in heavily saturated playing surfaces and localised ponding. Groundwater Dynamics’ EGRP system addresses this problem by inserting thesystem vertically into the ground and, once activated, the unique five-chamber design with its mild vacuum connects these horizontal layers of soil and attracts groundwater laterally towards the device before taking it down to lower unsaturated
strata and away from problem areas .

While the system costs approximately 15-20 per cent more than conventional drainage, it requires no maintenance and the system has a life span of over 25 years.

Another advantage is that clients can choose to spread the cost of installation over a number of years – where GWD returns each year to continue installing until the works are complete and the problem solved.

Gary Barwell. Head Groundsman at Edgbaston CC, has experienced first hand the benefits that can be had from installing a Groundwater Dynamics system, he commented:
“The system was installed during May 2013, within the timescales agreed in preparation for the ICC Champions Trophy. The playing surface was not damaged in anyway; this was prerequisite of the install and is a major positive for sports
surface drainage, as other systems would have meant huge disruption.

In terms of performance, any doubts I had about the system were immediately dispelled. We had two heavy rain spells in May where 12mm fell in the day and in June a further 14mm fell in half an hour. On both occasions the area flooded but normally it would have rendered the ground unplayable the following day. However with the GWD installation, the standing water and flooding was gone within hours and left the ground completely dry. This was an excellent results as it enabled the
teams scheduled to practice to use the facility the next day.”